PANEL: Sudan Beyond the Headlines – Cinema, Memory and Resistance
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PANEL: Sudan Beyond the Headlines – Cinema, Memory and Resistance
The ongoing war in Sudan has created one of the world's most devastating humanitarian crises, yet the voices of Sudanese filmmakers remain far too often unheard. This panel brings together filmmakers and artists creating in the midst of war and displacement. Their films preserve memory, resistance, and cultural survival in the face of erasure. Here, memory becomes an act of justice. They invite us to encounter Sudanese filmmakers not only as witnesses to history, but as artists whose work deserves to be seen beyond the urgency of the crisis. How does war reshape the stories we tell? What happens to filmmaking when archives are destroyed and exile becomes a lived reality?
With Ibrahim Omar, Ibrahim Snoopy, Ronnie Vitalia & Suzannah Mirghani
Language: English
PANEL: Sudan Beyond the Headlines – Cinema, Memory and Resistance , , 90 min
Guests
Ibrahim Omar is a Sudanese filmmaker and a graduate of the Higher Institute of Cinema in Cairo. He founded Port Sudan Film Days, the film magazine Short, and the non-profit Sudan Film Institute. His work centers on the trilogy THE POST-EVENT / TRAUMA, which explores contemporary Sudan through the concept of suspended time. NOTHING HAPPENS AFTER THAT won the Jury Prize at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, NOTHING HAPPENS AFTER THE REVOLUTION screened in the Burning Lights competition at Visions du Réel (2026), and NOTHING HAPPENS AFTER YOUR ABSENCE (2026) was selected for the Quinzaine des Cinéastes at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ibrahim Snoopy, a Sudanese filmmaker, storyteller and cinematographer, focuses on themes of identity, displacement and resilience. His debut feature film KHARTOUM was the first Sudanese film to premiere at Sundance and at the Berlinale, where it won the Peace Prize. He has also mentored filmmakers across East Africa, leading workshops on mobile filmmaking, storytelling, and production techniques, particularly in refugee communities and high-risk areas that are rich in stories but lack exposure. He is committed to sustainable, community-led film production and advocating for the next generation of storytellers, especially those without access to formal education.
Ronnie Vitalia, a Sudanese Black feminist and Afropolitan writer, passionate about advancing African LGBTQIA+ and women’s rights. Ronnie combines a love for the arts with advocacy for social justice. Through her writing and curatorial projects, she explores African Queer identities and promotes diversity in cinema and cultural production. With diverse experiences, including roles in Berlin’s cultural scene and contributions to Queer feminist platforms, her work explores themes of visibility, identity, and resilience, often in the context of global conflicts and social injustice.
Suzannah Mirghani is a writer, researcher, and media studies/museum studies graduate. She is the writer, director, and producer of AL-SIT (2020), which won 48 awards, including the Canal+ Award at the 2021 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, and 6 Academy Award qualifying prizes e.g. at Tampere Film Festival; New Orleans Film Festival; AFI Fest; and Interfilm Berlin. Her social media satire VIRTUAL VOICE (2021) premiered at Tribeca Film Festival; and KAMALA IBRAHIM ISHAG: STATES OF ONENESS (2022) was commissioned by the Serpentine Galleries. Her first feature film, COTTON QUEEN premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2025.